This exhibition encompasses artists from four states which area in the heart of the wester United States. Except for the subject matter of some of the prints, one would find it difficult to define this group of works as having some shared regional aesthetic. Indeed, quite the opposite is the case. The works demonstrate that the artists are part of a national, if not international, printmaking world which is characterized by individuality in the choices of style, media, and subject matter. Visual heterogeneity dominates the works. Their westernness is, simply, a factor of a geopolitical reality, not artistic criteria.

This exhibition encompasses artists from four states which are in the heart of the western United States. Except for the subject matter of some of the prints, one would find it difficult to define this group of works as having some shared regional aesthetic. Indeed, quite the opposite is the case. The works demonstrate that the artists are part of a national, if not international, printmaking world which is characterized by indiviuality in the choices of style, media, and subject matter. Visual heterogeneity dominates the works. Their westernness is, simply, a factor of a geopolitical reality, not artistic criteria.

Despite the availability of many species of hardwoods and the advent of new materials such as metals and plastics for the design of furniture, independent furniture makers today, like their forbearers, still have a difficult time competing with major manufacturers. The thirteen individuals whose work built this exhibition are torch bearers of a new, handbuilt crafts movement. Their tradition of furniture making is not just built from utility or necessity, but from ingenuity, truth to the materials, and devotion to the craft.

With expertise, enthusiasm, and a keen eye, the Caine Foundation has, for the past fifteen years, sought out key Western artworks that offer new twists on the story of twentieth-century American art. The core of the collection explores certain key art histroical moments, as evidenced by healthy examples of Los Angelse Post-Surrealism, Santa Fe Transcendentalism, Bay Area Abstract Expressionism, and San Francisco Funk.

Mr. Fairbanks was a man of his time. His scrupulous attention to anatomical detail made him a super realist as he worked from the interior structure of the human figrue outward to an accurate presentaion of each turning of a mouth, drooping of an eyelid or flexing of a muscle. He saw the human figure, male or female, as an object to be venerated, a mirror of elevated spiritual and aesthetic vaules more than just simplistic replication. His works, whether religious, mythological, industrial or as versitic portraiture, carried the Fairbanks ideal that "The arts are created for contemplation and edification, the expression of the highest ambitions and the spiritual hope of a people."

Contemporary theory and criticism of photography has generally taken the form of a face-off between formalism and contextualism. The first postion contends that what is required to understand a photograph is prmarily a close examination of its formal structure, the ability to connect it to other art forms, and perhpas some knowledge of the artist's biography and intentions. The second position holds that photographs have no meaning outside of the scoial and political context of their making. For the most part, these positions have been hardened and adversarial.

Documentation of significant prints made during the Depression-Era in Utah. It presents, for the first time, through the print mediem, the visual veiwpoints of eighteen Utah artists during this agonizing and debilitating era. Essay by Dr. Will South

With the publication of this book and the exhibition, "Impersonations: Work by Scott Grieger," the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art begins a series of scholarly examinations of a select group of artists whose work is represented in the Museum's important collection of innovative art produced in the western United States, from 1930 to the present. The work of these artists reflects unique contributions to the rich and complex history of American 20th century art. With this exhibition--a follow-up to the "Alternative Realities" of 1999 and the recent "Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle" of 2006, curated by Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna and organized by the Santa Monica Museum of Art--the Museum confirms the need to reflect upon the history of art making in the West.

This exhibition and catalog have had the close cooperation of the artist, Jim Starrett, to whom must go the first thanks. His professional experience and dedication as an artist and teacher has helped shape this exhibition. Brian Mains' design of the catalog and his essay contribute valuable perspectives for our audience. Starting with "Impersonations: Scott Greiger" in 2007, then "Bobby Ross: Drawings" in 2010, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art began a tradition of presenting ideas and objects that stimulate discussion, challenge the audience, encourage open-mindedness and expand perspectives.

Los Angeles portrait painter John Sonsini's gorgeous bakgrounds are lyrical, atmospheric abstrations that add a surprising tenderness to the portraits of Hispanic men whose half-formed shadows correspond to their near invisibility to most LA passersby.

The Exhibition New Acquisitions features works acquired for the permanent collection of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in the years 2000-2001. It also stretches the definition of 'new" by including earlier accessioned works that have previously remained out of public view. All 35 of these works are being exhibited here for the first time.